Niall Horan of One Direction Attacked by a Squirrel

In terms of respectable injuries, surviving a wolverine attack, shark bite or a bear fight are up there. But uh, a squirrel attack? Apparently those are pretty painful too, at least according to One Direction singer Niall Horan.

The singer and maybe-crush of Demi Lovato has been on crutches and in pain for a bit, and now we know why ... we think. In an interview with Capital FM, Horan revealed that a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed woodland creature was behind his injury.

"A squirrel attacked me," he said. "I got attacked by a squirrel in Battersea Park. They're dangerous. It's rare. I've torn most of the ligaments in my knee. So no football for me," he added. (Note: "Football" here means "soccer!") "It's early retirement now. I've got a floating knee-cap!"

Sugarscape reports, however, that Horan may be just joshin'. The injury is real, but the squirrel attack may be simply a more interesting story than what really (and likely) happened: a soccer mishap. Still, if he did have a somewhat mortifying squirrel battle, it still wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing he's dealt with recently. Not too long ago he split his pants while golfing, and bandmate Zayn Malik recently revealed that Niall's usually pretty gassy.

In any case, the squirrel attack sounds nuts. (We'll be here all day.) Just in case, though, here's hoping he got a rabies shot!